[News-releases] Commemorating 35 Years of Roe v. Wade

	For Immediate Release Contact: Mai Shiozaki, 202-628-8669, ext. 116; cell 202-641-1906
Commemorating 35 Years of Roe v. Wade January 22, 2008 Today marks the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that recognized a woman's constitutional right to abortion. The National Organization for Women is determined to not go back to the days when women suffered from health complications after giving birth to 10, 12, or 15 children, often dying in childbirth. Or they died from illegal abortions in back alleys or dirty motel rooms, or were left injured and infertile after botched illegal abortions. Our mothers and grandmothers had no self-determination when it came to pregnancy and childbearing, and we are determined that our daughters will never have that experience. "It is no surprise that majority of people in this country agree with the core decision of Roe, but in the last 35 years the anti-choice groups have grown more vicious, lashing out against the landmark Supreme Court decision as part of their on-going campaign to eviscerate it," says NOW President Kim Gandy. "We have endured more than three decades of challenges and roadblocks from a well-funded opposition, and our rights are more tenuous than ever -- so now, more than ever, we have to fight to keep Roe alive," said Gandy. Over the last few years, we have seen calculated legal and legislative strategies designed to challenge the core holding of Roe v. Wade and overturn the decision. In 2006, South Dakota lawmakers made it a felony for doctors to perform any abortion except to save the life of a pregnant woman, but the law was reversed by voters later that year. Last April, in a move that distorts the law and disregards the Constitution, the Supreme Court upheld an abortion procedure ban without any exception to protect the woman's health. Five justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito -- both installed by Bush and a Republican-majority Senate -- effectively reversed court precedent in ruling that the law does not violate a woman's constitutional right to choose abortion. With the stage set, the next phase of their attack is moving to Missouri, where a proposed ballot measure, that if adopted, would ban abortion in almost all circumstances and could spur a legal challenge before the Supreme Court. "In this time of many challenges to our liberty, preserving women's reproductive freedom calls for constant vigilance and concerted action," said Gandy. "Abortion opponents are attempting to eliminate access to abortion in many states -- by passing TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) laws to put clinics out of business, passing waiting periods and notice requirements that cut access to rural women, poor women and young women, and by enacting outright abortion bans that would jail doctors and revoke their medical licenses." "This is a promising year for women," said Gandy. "We will soon be seeing the last of George Bush and his right-wing religious zealots, but it is critical that we elect a new president and a Congress committed to full reproductive health care for women," said Gandy.

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